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Russell Wilson is playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their final exhibition game. Because, well, it’s quite necessary at this point.
“We’re playing,” Wilson told reporters. “Yeah, we’re all playing.”
I’d add an addendum to that statement: Wilson is playing for his starting job. Both for the first week of the regular season and likely every week after that, too.
This is where the Steelers are in a starting quarterback decision that has stretched on far longer than the franchise initially intended when camp started in July. In some ways, it’s the predictable quandary that we all expected between Wilson and Justin Fields. It’s what happens when you pit a 35-year-old quarterback with signs of decline against a 25-year-old who offers special athletic traits and a still-reachable ceiling. You set yourself up for a debate — whether it’s what you intended or not.
Maybe the Steelers always knew this was coming. Surely, there were plenty of signs after Wilson was signed as a free agent and Fields was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Bears. For every story you heard about head coach Mike Tomlin simply wanting a steady veteran who could run an offense at an above-average clip, there was another story about the very lofty draft opinion the Steelers had of Fields. Throw in the contract realities — with neither having a deal beyond 2024 — and it had all the makings of a cloaked competition, no matter what the organization said publicly.
And now here we are. With a competition that at least seems a little less cloaked, thanks to a calf injury that kept Wilson out of an extended period at the start of training camp, giving Fields just enough time to showcase to the staff that he still has the special traits that have long been impressive. All running into an intersection that has Pittsburgh hoping for one of two outcomes: Either Wilson finally puts it together in the final exhibition game and showcases the steady veteran traits that got him a…
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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-camp-notebook-dump-lets-start-with-the-pittsburgh-steelers-and-russell-wilsons-shaky-job-security-210831847.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-08-22 21:08:31
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